What Causes Joint Pain In Neck And Shoulders?

Posted on Sat, 4 Oct 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 4 Oct 2014 Answered on

Tue, 28 Oct 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I recently woke up one morning with extremely severe joint pain in my neck, both shoulders, both thumbs & to a lesser extent both hips. The pain was associated with a low-grade fever-99.2 & one episode of chills. The condition lasted for about 3-4 days, the pain being partially alleviated with Percocet. Following recovery I have been very tired most of the time. I had not done anything which would have exposed me to ticks or mosquitos. As this illness started on the weekend I consulted with a doctor on the phone & she prescribed the Percocet. I did not visit my PCP subsequently for further tests. I have a history of osteoarthritis and prostate cancer which was treated with radiation in 2011.

Answered by Dr. Anshul Varshney (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Post Viral Arthralgia.

Detailed Answer:
Dear Friend.
Welcome To HCM. I am Dr Anshul Varshney.
I understand your concern.
Joint pains are commonly associated with viral fevers.
As you have no history of tick bite or related thing nothing to worry.
Now since you have no fever then you don't need any particular treatment. But if you still have fever, any rash, any redning of eyes then let me know.
Else you can continue with Percocet. If the relief is less with Percocet you can take Etoricoxib 90 mg once a day for 5 days and you will be perfectly all right.
However post viral myalgia or arthralgia might persist for a week or so.
If you have any further query please ask me.
Stay Healthy

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar